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New Manitoba impaired driving penalties take effect Monday

WINNIPEG --
The Manitoba government’s new approach to getting impaired drivers off the streets, starts Monday, December 16th.

The approach is called ‘immediate roadside prohibition, ’ and the intent is to get some impaired drivers off the road more quickly, using administrative means rather than court proceedings.

Under the new approach, testing a suspected impaired driver can take as little as six minutes.

This is significantly less than the time required to administer a breathalyzer test and process an impaired driver for criminal charges, which is often up to four hours.

Under the new amendments to the Highway Traffic Act, drivers who register ‘Warning’ on a roadside test, whether by blood or breathalyzer (blood alcohol content of .05 to .079) will face a fine of $400 for a first violation, $500 for a second or $600 for third or subsequent offenses.

Drivers who register warning threshold will also see their driver’s license suspended for three days on the first violation, up to 60 days.

They’ll be referred to an Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) program if there have been two or more violations within 10 years and they’ll pay a $50 driver’s license reinstatement fee.

Drivers who test at or over the ‘Fail’ level (blood alcohol content at or over 0.08) or those who refuse to be tested by police at the roadside, will face new penalties, which apply for first-time offenses not involving bodily harm, death or other significant aggravating circumstances.